Owners Matt and Holly Iafeliece take pride in making the majority of the menu items in-house.

Matt and Holly Iafeliece are the owners of the new craft restaurant in north College Elevated Sandwhiches. Photo credit: Jonny Rhein

“When I say from scratch, I’m roasting everything in-house,” Matt Iafeliece said. “The turkey, the pork loin for the Cuban, the corned beef, I roll the meatballs in-house. I think that’s one thing that sets us apart. It’s a lot of work to do that and I know why a lot of people don’t do it. For me, it is the only way. I can’t call myself Elevated Sandwiches, and open bags of turkey and slice it. I would have called it Mediocre Sandwiches.”

Matt Iafeliece has been in the restaurant industry for over 25 years. He started running his own pizza and sub shop when he was 15.

“My parents bought our first restaurant when I was 15,” Matt Iafeliece said. “It was a pizza, pasta and sub shop in south Florida. Even as a young kid, I started running it. We eventually bought another restaurant, which was more fine dining, so as a 15-year-old, I took over the shop.”

His travel ventures brought him to Boulder where he helped start Illegal Pete’s with Pete Turner in 1995.

With all of his diverse experience in the restaurant industry including fine dining and wine, Matt Iafeliece feels that sandwiches are his calling, he said.

“I always remember working at the sandwich place as a kid thinking, ‘man, this is fun,’” Matt Iafeliece said. “We’d hang out back there and listen to music, get in the zone, crank out sandwiches, then at the end of the day you’re done.”

Matt Iafeliece has lived all over the country and believes his travel experiences have helped him perfect his menu.

“We have a Cuban on the menu; I’m from south Florida,” Matt Iafeliece said. “My burger is an homage to Cleveland. It’s oblong and comes on a hoagie roll with a special sauce that reminds me of a place from Cleveland. For us, traveling gave us a grasp of these regional sandwiches. We’ve learned how to make them right.”

Patron Nick Amizich was particularly impressed with the beer selection. The current tap selection is mostly local beers.

“There is nothing better than eating an Italian sub from Elevated Sandwiches while drinking a nice beer,” Amizich said.

Patrons eat at Elevated Sandwiches located at north College. Photo credit: Jonny Rhein

Holly Iafeliece said she could not be happier with the new restaurant.

“It’s been so amazing working with Matt, watching our dream come true and us putting all the labor of love into it,” Holly Iafeliece said. “It’s something we can call our own. It’s been a learning process for the best.”

Matt Iafeliece believes north Fort Collins is the perfect location for Elevated Sandwiches.

“Everybody thought I was crazy for going on north College, but I really do believe this is the last frontier in Fort Collins,” Matt Iafeliece said. “There’s nowhere else to build and to grow except for north College. We want to bring a dynamic to this side of town that they’ve never seen before.”

Iafeliece has plans for the future with hopes of opening restaurants in small towns that do not have restaurants like Elevated Sandwiches.

“Holly and I like the smaller community thing,” Matt Iafeliece said. “We’d love to go to Timnath or Wellington and bring something like this to those that don’t have much in their little town.”

Collegian reporter Jonny Rhein can be reached at entertainment@collegian.com or on Twitter @jonnyrhein.

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